1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to book holders for holding open a book so as to facilitate reading of the pages of the book. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a book holder which is of a simple, light and easy to use construction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The process of reading a book can become somewhat tedious, in that the reader must constantly hold open the book against the resilient action of its spine. More importantly, those readers who are physically handicapped must struggle all the more with keeping the book open in a configuration that favors page reading.
In the prior art there have been various kinds of book holders, as exemplified by the following U.S. patents. U.S. Pat. No. 1,196,715 to Noll, dated Aug. 29, 1916, discloses a book holder which holds open the pages at the spine of the book via operation of a rear bracket and two spreadable legs. U.S. Pat. No. 1,710,949 to Pokora, dated Apr. 30, 1929, discloses a book holder in which a clip portion is spring loaded with respect to a finger, the finger holding the pages of the book open. U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,617 to Fortier, dated May 10, 1983, discloses a book holder having a central set of prongs which engage the book at the spine, and a set of arms connected thereto for holding the pages open. U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,383 to Kikis, dated Oct. 2, 1984, discloses a book holder having a base with two opposing looped end portions, wherein a book sits atop the base and the pages are held open by capture within the looped end portions. U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,542 to Black, dated Apr. 23, 1985, discloses a book holder in the form of two mutually pivotably connected wires, each wire having a looped end portion; legs are hingably connected thereto, as well. U.S. Pat. No. 4,645,236 to Kemp, Jr., dated Feb. 24, 1987, discloses a book holder in the form of a flat member having a slotted flat finger at each end for engaging pages of the book. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,680 to Rivera, dated Jun. 12, 1990, discloses a book holder in the form of a wire shaped to include a leg portion that inserts into the spine of the book, and a front transverse portion connected to the leg portion which effects to hold pages of the book in place.
While each of the foregoing patents discloses a book holder which serves to hold pages of a book in an open, readable configuration, each suffers from one or more of the following: excessive complexity, weight, or cost; difficulty to use (too much work to adjust each time a page is turned); and potential damage to the book (wherever a spine engagement is required). Accordingly, what remains needed in the art is a book holder which holds a book open so that the pages may be easily read, is light, inexpensive, and very easily accommodates page turning.
A book holder addressing the aforesaid need in the art is the above identified parent application, wherein a book holder of a simply connected wire construction is disclosed. More specifically, two wire elements are provided, each having a base portion. The base portions are mutually separated a relatively small predetermined distance. At either side of the base portion of each wire element, the wire elements conjoin so as to form U-shaped ends. The U-shaped ends are dimensioned so as to provide an overhang for trapping the pages of a book between the overhang and the respective adjacent base portions.
In operation, the user engages an open book with the book holder so that a portion of opposing sides of the book (that is, the left and right side of the book located at opposite sides of its spine) are captured by the U-shaped ends and the two wire elements. The U-shaped ends are dimensioned so that they do not pose a problem with comfortable reading of the pages. When it is time to turn pages, a simple finger movement is all that is necessary to remove the page being turned from the overhang on the right and to trap it under the overhang on the left (and vice versa).
While the book holder described in the above identified parent application is very practical and is shaped to solve all the problems in prior art book holders, it still suffers from the structural limitation of being constructed of metallic wire or otherwise wire-like shaped material. What is needed, therefore, is a book holder shaped like that disclosed in parent application Ser. No. 07/720,257 and yet is made of an elongate panel, and which, optionally, is also selectively extensible so as to accommodate a range of book widths.